If there is ever an excuse to make some sort of grazing or charcuterie board, I’m your girl! I recently had some friends over for brunch, and I thought it would be the perfect time to make a brunch bagel board to feed everyone.
Not only are food boards beautiful to look at, they give guests the option to pick and choose what they want to eat. Say goodbye to leftover appetizers and half-eaten hor d’oeuvres, and say hello your new favorite way to feed a hungry crowd. And don’t worry, if some things don’t fit on the board, they can simply be put next to wherever the board has been placed.
Usually, charcuterie boards are expensive to put together since fancy meats and cheeses are sold at exponential prices. Luckily, this board is made using fairly cheap ingredients, so don’t worry about breaking the bank.
Here’s what you’ll need to build the exact board I did:
- Bagels
- Whipped cream cheese (and vegan cream cheese)
- Cucumbers
- Roma or beefsteak tomatoes
- Baguette
- Smoked salmon
- Cheery tomatoes
- Dill pickle spears
- Pickled red onions
- Fresh fill (optional decoration)
- Fresh chamomile flowers (optional decoration)
- Fresh eucalyptus (optional decoration)
I bought 90% of the ingredients at Costco in bulk since I knew I’d have to feed a lot of people. Costco is great for bagels, smoked salmon, and cream cheese. If you’re feeding a smaller crowd, this is unnecessary since most of these ingredients can be found at your average grocery store.
Like I mentioned earlier, don’t feel pressured too fit everything onto your board. I used a pretty giant board and still had bagels, baguette slices, and an extra container of cream cheese that didn’t fit onto it. I placed the extra ingredients into plates and bowls and served them on the side. Check out the photo below for reference.
As you can see, I was even able to use my extra chamomile flowers as a cute side decoration!
Most of my guests were gluten-tolerant and huge fans of cream cheese, so this wasn’t the best board for someone like me who cannot stomach either of those ingredients. I suggest having gluten free bread and vegan cream cheese handy if you know you’ll be having people with food intolerances over.
If you end up creating your own version of this brunch bagel board, send me your creations on Instagram @nicolesfoodbowls! I’d love to see what you come up with.
